From Now to Forever
by drinktea
Summary: She spun a million watts of light from fantasy, pulled the cord on darkness. It was her dreaming preferred. ... Until he arrived. DarkRiku. Pre D N Angel.


_Disclaimer: D N Angel is Sugisaki's. You know the deal._

Author natterings: Written as a response to Scatter's challenge #2: Dream. Wish me luck! Haha.  
The matter of rating this story had me furrowing my brow, so I've made it PG-13 in case? (This story is a little hotter than my usual, haha.)  
Takes place before their first meeting. Think a little: if this had actually happened Pre D N Angel, how would their situation have played out? I think it's pretty cool to wonder about.  
As always, comments and criticisms are appreciated.

**From Now to Forever**

In Azumano, dark always fell quickly. No matter the season, rain nor shine - if there was a day, there would forever be a night twice as long.

Riku never liked the night. Anything dark, veiled in shadows, anything that could go bump in the night she combatted with vigour. It had been this way for as long as she could remember.

Unfortunately for her, there was no way to banish the falling of the sun. Fortunately, safety could be found in sleep, in the land of dreaming. There was control, and she wielded it masterfully. She conducted rays of light to fall where she walked, so she would never have to set a foot on what she could not see. She spun a million watts of light from fantasy, pulled the cord on darkness. It was her dreaming preferred. There had always been this.

She dreamed: from now to forever, light.

Tonight, the sun slept cold beneath a horizon white with snow. Flakes fell, and she sent herself to her land of light.

Tonight, the dream was set in Azumano. In her very room. There was only she and no one else. Her dream self parted her lips in anticipation of calling her sister-- and she noticed it.

She turned to the veranda doors, tall, clear and dark. She peered at the pane - what was this? It was never night in her dreams. The sight filled her with near-dread. Her mind should have illuminated every corner, wall to wall. Light not only shone, it burned_flooded_.

Where was it now? The dark should have been turned _off_.

Her eyes filled with emptiness. It was a complete void out there. The dark swallowed up any light that might come its way. She felt, with horror, that it might pull _her_ in too.

"Risa!" panic-struck, she called out. In her bones, she felt that _bump_ in the night arrive. It crept between her clothes and skin, startled her beyond saving.

_Stop,_ she couldn't say. She felt like a child, shut her eyes - _this isn't supposed to happen_.

No control. She couldn't do a thing, not as the doors blew open, not as the wind cut across the cold floor. It was impossible (- but was anything impossible in the land of dreams? -) but the wind blew black. Black as coal, black as poison and fear. And she choked it all in.

Her room, her haven, hid in the murky dark. Her lamp, the only source of light, had been knocked over. The bulb lay in a million shards, but she could barely see them. The wind tore at her clothes. Her senses were robbed - she smelt, heard and saw nothing. Her one sense that was sharper than ever was the one that alarmed her the most. She _felt_ it.

Something had come in with the wind.

The black had fingers. They gripped her shoulders.

The black had lips. They brushed her neck.

"_What is _your _name?_" The voice, slow and masculine, intruded into her subconscious. It woke in her terror unknown, and she could only shiver.

He was behind her. She _felt_ his hot breath caress her neck, wash over the skin of her back. His fingers intertwined mock-lovingly with hers, but she could not rip them from his hold. She was blind and frozen, fear locking her in place. Her blood took extra care to pump into the places he came into contact with.

"_It's only fair, now. You know mine._" And at this, she knew she did. His voice was deep, intimate. _He_ was intimate. His front pressed to her back, curves aligning. Someone so frightening, someone so visceral, someone so _seductive_, could only be named one thing.

"Dark," she said, and the word fell like a stone to the floor.

She _felt_ his smile. "_That's right. Tell me yours,_" he sung like a Siren into her ear, alluring, and she caught herself thinking it beautiful.

"Riku," she obliged, feeling nearly elated from his song.

Wait, what was she doing? Could she really be so naïve as to give her name to an interloper? Did it really matter?

"_Riku... I will remember you,_" the warm breath came again, cascading down her spine. The words were a clear goodbye, his touch nearly gone, his warm fingers leaving her cold ones.

"Wait!" she called out, and it echoed in the black. She thought that the night might seep down her throat, so she closed her mouth quickly.

He waited.

"Let me see you," she asked of him, boldly. She knew he could do it, clear away the darkness around them. He wielded dark like she wielded light.

His chuckle was smooth in her mind. "_You'll know it's me when the time comes._"

_No!_ she wanted to yell, but he was already gone, the light tickle of feathers the only thing he left behind.

And then she woke.

She kept the dream on her mind during her days, and dreamt no more at night. She was afraid of returning to either - the old-world feel of her light-filled dreams or the sensual darkness that came with that man. She kept _that feeling_ in the far reaches of her mind, that slow tingle, that hiss and burn of denial. Away from him, she felt it easier to admit - the darkness held a certain appeal. Its temptation was carnal, basic, but _oh_ so enticing. It was warm, and within the fear of experiencing something new was also the thrill of it.

She found herself staring at the sun setting.

One morning after, she sat in bed with the covers pooled around her. She looked out her veranda doors, and could practically _feel_ those tendrils of dark coming through. She closed her eyes, imagined them closing 'round her...

"Riku, did you hear?" Risa almost crashed into her bedside.

She looked at her sister, her expression a loss at how the younger twin could be so loud and enroaching.

She went on anyway. "After a forty-year absence, Phantom Thief _Dark Mousy_ is back!" she chattered on, but Riku heard nothing. Her heart beat weak wings.

He was coming.

And she dreamed: from now to forever, Dark.


End file.
